Keeping Secrets
by realtrashwriting
Summary: Keeping secrets is a tricky thing when your friends lock you in a broom cupboard and try to force the truth from you. Ah, such is the life of Lily Evans and James Potter.


**It's been a while since i wrote for them! Let's get right into it, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

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**Keeping Secrets**

"You're hopeless."

"Is hopeless an affectionate term? 'Cause if so, then you're hopeless too."

"Really?" Lily Evans allowed herself to look up at James Potter's elevated form, an exasperated smile on her lips. "That's the best you've got?"

"Not good enough?" James pursed his lips and Lily laughed at the effort he tried to appear to be putting in to her words. He cleaned his glasses with a quick spell as he continued to think, making a good show of the whole thing. "Well, you could drop me, and I could say that I've fallen for you."

"That's even worse," she said, turning a page of her novel idly but her thoughts didn't leave her fellow Head. James had needed to get something on the roof of their room, something Lily hadn't completely understood until he had to explain that their dorm had a spider problem. He then had told her that she would need to magic him up to the spot if she wanted the spider dead and out of their room. Once the spider was out of the way and shot into the garbage can like only an expert Keeper would shoot, James had surprised her by saying that he rather enjoyed the height and Lily wouldn't be anything if she wasn't helpful. Which led, of course, to her practically holding him up in the air with _Levicorpus_ while he enjoyed the view and she indulged in a long forgotten library book It wasn't terribly tedious either. She could multitask between the magic and her literature with not too much difficulty, although if James kept talking to her she might just have to drop him. It was hard to read when he spoke and distracted her.

"Lily," he called, beckoning her eyes back upwards to his handsome face. "Have you ever thought about building a long net here to lie down and relax?"

"Wouldn't that be the same thing as a bed? It'd be an awfully uncomfortable cot, James."

"No, no, it's something else."

"A couch then?"

"Nope."

"Like, a hammock? It's got to be a hammock."

"No, no, Lily, it's nothing like a hammock. It's a long net that leaves you suspended up here and you can just rest there and do as you please."

"James," she sighed, "that _is_ a hammock."

"No, it's not! Not at all." He scowled, ruffling his dark hair angrily and fixing his brown eyes on her. "Ugh, never mind. Perhaps I'll get Remus to rig something for me once he finishes with the latest essay Binns' whipped up. He's never quite in the mood for building unless all his homework is done, you know?"

"Remus?" asked Lily curiously. "I haven't seen him in a while. How's he been?"

"Good," said James, stare unwavering. "Sirius has been taking care of him lately. Seems to think he needs more tending to since the changes got worse." Lily nodded slowly, her understanding growing at a snail's pace due to the late hour of the comment's delivery. She had known about Remus' condition for a few years, but it was not until this year, her final year, that she truly comprehended the severity of his night time rituals and the lengths at which his closest friends went through to keep him as safe as possible.

There was a sharp knock, startling Lily out of her thoughts and causing her to drop James a few feet in the air. He yelped as he fell, trying to grab onto the bookshelf in the far corner to land on, and Lily apologized, standing abruptly. She regained focus on him, lowering his body down to the couch with less grace than either was accustomed to. He called out a 'thank you' as he thumped onto the cushions and Lily threw him another apology before opening the portrait door and letting in Alice Pennington.

"Lily! James!" she exclaimed breathlessly and by means of greeting.

"Hullo," said Lily, a little breathless herself from her scare of almost dropping James. The male in question just waved from his position on the couch, not bothering to move. "Is something the matter? It's not like you to visit so late at night."

"I wouldn't have come if it wasn't important, I promise," she said, the bangs of her new pixie cut falling in her eyes. "It's just- It's Severus."

Lily froze while James groaned, "Oh, not that prat again."

"What about?" Lily asked stiffly. It had been a good two months since she had Severus Snape had a civilized conversation. After their fight, when she had dismissed him indefinitely and may have mentioned her growing admiration for James, they hadn't spoken in any way, shape or form. The pair had always had small spats, but fifth and sixth year had been so riddled with fights that Lily was not completely surprised by their fall out. The one fight had ended it all and had happened a few weeks before the summer vacation, and Lily hadn't attempted to talking to him since. She had talked to James instead.

Which had no doubt shocked all involved.

"He's gotten into a fight with Sirius near Slughorn's class. You both have to stop them."

James scrambled to his feet at the mention of his best friend and Lily was already throwing on her cloak, wand in her hand.

"Where?"

"Near the dungeons but not quite. It's the hall right before Slughorn's." Alice led them out of the porthole and into the halls of Hogwarts. Multiple portraits looked at them sleepily, a few using choice words to express how unreasonable it was for them to be up at such a late hour. Lily muttered apologies the entire journey with James wishing most of them goodnight just behind her.

When they had finally stumbled into the hall of their choice, it was completely empty with nobody in it to possibly get into a fight. Lily slowed down, walking cautiously across the stone floor. There was a window open on the far side of the hall, wind blowing in causing a serious chill to waft through the hall, slithering into the spaces of their robes. The wizardless hall gave her the creeps and it certainly didn't help that there were scarcely any portraits this low in the castle.

"Where are they?" asked James, wand out as his voice echoed through the corridor. "Where've they gone?"

Alice shivered, pulling her own robe closer into herself and walked over to the window. "I don't know. They were here, I swear."

The Head Boy ran a hand through his mop of black hair, a frown marring his otherwise cheery countenance. "Bloody hell, Alice, really?"

Lily glance behind her. Nobody was there either which was strange because she could have sworn she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She pulled out her wand nervously, her bright eyes looking around for some sort of figure. "And you're sure they were here?"

"I swear, Lils, honestly!"

"Potter, come here a moment."

James perked up at her voice and strode over, stretching a bit to relieve whatever tension there was in his shoulders. "Yes?"

"Look at that, would you?" There was a series of burn marks lingering along the stone wall, colours blasted against the rough exterior though leaving no distinct indents. It was clear that a battle had been fought, but for what purpose? "They must have fought here," she said aloud, "but where did they go after?" Lily walked along the wall, following the burn marks carefully while James lingered by the first one, touching it with his fingers and rubbing the charred stone between his fingers. "Potter! I think I've found something!" She touched the door of what seemed to be a broom closet, the wood itself being riddled with post-magic residue. It cast a dull shine on the door, reminding the young witch of the lacquered ones she had seen many times within her own home. They were often associated with her sister, considering the amount of ignoring the eldest Evans had decided on doing these last few years. The mere thought of Petunia was enough to stall her hand for a moment and it was not until she caught James calling her name that returned her to her place at the door, her fingers curled around the brass ring.

"Well?"

"I think they're in here," she said, tightening her hold.

"Are you sure? I was checking the markings and-"

"And they led here, I know. Which is why I think that one of them might be in here. They could be hiding from one another to avoid getting multiple detentions." She pulled the door open with a sort of flourish and lit her wand only to have it snatched away from her as someone ran past. "What-" she gaped, feeling her body being pushed forward into the darkness. She landed on some spare broom sticks and soon had the displeasure of having another body thrust onto her, a sharp item jabbing into the soft skin of her stomach. The weight of the body kept her pinned to the ground, and, very soon, what little light remaining from the hall windows was blocked out by the closing and prompt locking of the broom closet door.

It was a groan from the body on top of her that reminded her that she had to get the body off of her if she wanted to actually accomplish something, however knowing who was on top of her made it difficult to focus on. "That _hurt_," he moaned in the darkness, no doubt using the wall to support himself as the weight was removed from her stomach.

"I'll say." Lily rubbed the abused part, the skin still a bit sore from being jabbed at. "Are you okay?"

"Considering that I _am_ stuck in a broom closet with one of my favourite people, I suppose yes, I am 'okay'."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then yes, I'm fine. Just weirded out that you were fooled so easily."

"Fooled?" She felt her cheeks flush in anger and she threw a careless punch. it didn't quite catch him but she knew it didn't have to. She could keep swinging until her fist finally connected with that arrogant mug. "James Potter! If this was just another ploy to get me stuck with you then-"

"Let's not be too hasty." His hands had somehow found hers and stalled them in place so she wouldn't be able to hurt him. She swore at his in her head. "This trick didn't work three years ago, so there was no way I'd repeat it. The Marauders are only repeat offenders of _good_ pranks. This is Sirius' work now. And Alice's too, likely."

"What?" Lily felt quite surprised at the revelation and was struck by her own foolishness soon after. "So it was all a trap?"

"Likely." She felt her hands return to her side. '"Before you opened the door, I was going to say that the marks seemed too powerful to be accidental spells that missed their target. Also, the residue was too broad to have come from the distance Sirius could have fought."

She blinked quickly. "That was...rather technical. I'm impressed."

"Really?" Too soon, his serious demeanor changed to one of an excited puppy and Lily nearly groaned aloud at it. "Because we could-"

"No, James, not now." The pair tried to orientate themselves before realizing that they were in a broom closet, not a cupboard with a few steps and space beneath the staircases. His shoulder -or what she thought was his shoulder- brushed hers as he tried to fit himself into the small space provided. "I don't suppose you checked the door already?"

"It's locked," he said curtly. She could catch his shadow pushing back dark hair and cast a look to where she thought the door might be. Little bits of light snuck in from the old wooden cracks but it wasn't quite enough. "Though I'm not all too sure why. Padfoot! Are you out there?" Silence was the only answer but James was undeterred. "Good, so you are. No doubt you and Alice have your ears to the door waiting to hear us speak. So why? What do you want to hear?" Nothing. "You've got to give me something to work with, Padfoot, come on. Or shall I guilt Alice into letting us out in general?" Soundless. "Perhaps I'll tell Mum who left the dungbombs in her-"

"Alright." Sirius' voice came from behind the door, and even without light, Lily knew that James was smirking, taking pride in this small victory.

"Brilliant. Now, I know you won't let us out."

"Not a chance."

"Because you want us to say something?" he fished carefully.

"We want you to say something."

"Well that's progress," he muttered under his breath. "So what is it then? You and that slime ball weren't fighting at all, were you? Is this one of those intimidation things where I have to praise you in order to be freed?"

"It's not that," came another voice; Alice's. "It's just that you've both avoided each other for so long that we think now is really the time to tell each other what you feel towards them."

Lily felt the heat snake its way onto her face, the embarrassment palpable. "Firstly," began James, as if he were devoid of embarrassment entirely, "how can we avoid each other if our bedrooms sit opposite one another. We share a bathroom, I hope you know; we couldn't avoid each other completely. You remember how much Lily tried to when the term started. It couldn't right well be done. Secondly, I am quite aware of Lily's feelings towards me, just as she knows my feelings for her. There is no confusion."

"Tell you what then, Prongs. How about we skip along and give you both a moment alone to sort through things and if you have when we return, then we'll let you out. Is it a deal?"

"It's not a very good deal-"

"Right, well it's done then. We'll be back in a bit. Come on, Alice."

"But-" They heard the scuffling of feet, their footfalls echoing through the hall, and Lily did not dare to speak until the sound had dissipated.

"Have they gone?" she whispered, shifting a bit in place.

"Not likely. They have magic on their side; we don't."

They were both quiet, letting the events sink in before even attempting to form coherent thoughts.

"So," she began slowly, "they want us to tell each other what we think of them."

"I suppose." She heard him sigh. "We already know, though. We don't really have to humour them."

"It wouldn't hurt though." Part of her was surprised that such a suggestion came from her; she didn't need to be validated by hearing him say what he had already said to her. After all, it had been her idea to keep their relationship a secret. Still, her heart palpitations were back and stronger as ever as he voiced his agreement, suggesting they get into a more comfortable position so as to 'get into character'.

"How would you like it done?" he asked, folding his hands over her stomach just as she resting her weight against his chest. He was much more comfortable than the broomsticks she had been previously leaning on, and she tried to relax, feeling more safe than anything with his arms around her waist.

"The confession? We could re-enact it; like how it was before."

"Which one would you like relived? The first 52 times? Or perhaps the 53rd time, in which you told me never to speak to you unless I was severely injured and in need of medical attention?"

She cringed, sinking deeper into his embrace and feeling both impressed and distressed by his accuracy. "I said _that_?"

"Indeed and with quite a passion, as well. It was in sixth year." He pressed his cheek to her hair as he spoke.

"No, I don't like that one."

"Which one would you like, then?"

"Obviously the last one."

"Yesterday's?"

"No." She flicked her wrist back so her knuckles got the cotton covered shoulder of the boy. "You know what I mean."

"Right." He cleared his throat theatrically and she tried to hide her giggle in the sleeve of her sweater. "Lily, I haven't been entirely honest with you." He said it rather loudly, and she tried to stifle her sound even further.

"What do you mean?" she got out shakily, the smile stuck on her face.

"I know that you haven't always liked me, and I haven't always liked you, but-"

He paused and she shifted a bit in his arms. "But?"

"I've forgotten what I said next," he whispered to her and she nearly laughed again.

"I think it was about school work and giving me space."

"I see...I'll have to tailor it to fit the times." Then, at his 'normal' volume, "I understand that second term will be starting soon, but I wanted you to know that I haven't actually gotten over you like I said I would."

"James, I-"

"No, let me finish, please." It was so dramatic that it was hard to pull the correct lines from her memory bank at all. "It's been a long six years with you, and this will make seven. And you deserve much better than some Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with a longer detention record than anyone here, but I thought you should know that I still love you." His arms tightened around her and she wove her fingers through his. "I know you're pleased that, once this year is over, you'll never have to see me again. But I thought you should know that Alice was right; I _have_ been avoiding you all year just so I wouldn't have to face the facts that I can't get over you. I'm sorry."

"James, you shouldn't be sorry. I've been avoiding you too."

"You have?"

"Yes. It seems that somewhere along the way, I found a way not to hate you. And even…" she paused as he did, and whispered, "did I say 'love you' back then, or 'like you'?"

"I think it was 'like' but that doesn't mean you can't make this time a little more meaningful."

"And even love you," she said loudly, grinning madly as her boyfriend pressed his lips to her cheek, squeezing her middle.

"Do you mean that?"

"I wouldn't say it like a joke. I mean it."

They were silent, giving Sirius and Alice a moment to fret over what was happening within the closet. They waited with giggles and kisses, careful not to be too loud lest they awaken the portraits that hung down at the end of the hall.

"Do you think they'll let us leave now?"

"Hmm, I don't know." Somewhere along the way, she had shifted into a much more comfortable position; cradled in his arms while seated between his crossed legs so she'd be a little closer to his face. "I'm starting to like this more than our dormitory."

She hummed her agreement as she ran a hand generously through his hair. "We should call for them."

"Or keep waiting." He pressed his lips against her neck. "Tomorrow _is_ Sunday, after all. It's not like any of us have classes."

"But you have Quidditch practice in the morning."

"So? I can skip."

"You're the captain. I don't think you're allowed to skip."

"No, he is _not_." They froze at the new voice that had made itself known and Lily flushed deeply at its familiarity to her ears. They _knew_ that voice; and it's owner would not be pleased in the slightest.

"Mr. Black, if you would unlock your fellow classmates out so that you may all suffer together, it would be much appreciated."

"Yes, Professor." A distinct click sent both Heads tumbling out of the open door and onto one another in front of a very ruffled looking Professor McGonagall whose eyes were alight with annoyance.

"I am deeply ashamed that both Head Girl and Head Boy, both of which are of my House, have decided to take a little break inside the broom cupboard."

"Professor, I-"

"No, Mr. Potter, I have heard enough of you for one lifetime. _I_ will be doing the talking now. Both of you, to my office, and you two," she turned to look at Sirius and Alice, both of which were trying hard to hide their grins, "ten points off each for disrupting the halls at such an ungodly hour."

"But-"

"No buts, Mr. Black. To your dormitories, both of you. Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans will join me." Lily watched her friends disappear around the corner, their footsteps trailing off as they made through the halls. "Now, you two-"

"Professor, honestly, it wasn't our fault," began James hastily.

"Honestly? Your version of honest is of a very rare breed, Mr. Potter, so please enlighten me with it if you would be so kind."

"We were tricked into the cupboard, Professor!" insisted James, getting to his feet awkwardly while trying to simultaneously help Lily up.

"The great James Potter? Tricked? And here I thought you had turned a new leaf."

"But Professor-"

"He's telling the truth." Lily sighed, shutting her eyes briefly and running a hand through her bright hair.

"So it appeared." McGonagall watched James squirm beneath her scrutiny for the first time and led them out of the hallway. "I expect you two to be more vigilant. Head Boy and Head Girl are responsibilities that the Headmaster did not appoint carelessly. I am quite disappointed that you were both tricked into such a childish situations."

"It won't happen again, Professor," vowed James, looking up at the moving staircases that shifted and slide about trying to make a path for them.

"I should think not," she sniffed, straightening her shoulders as the stair case came to a rumbling halt before them. "Off to bed, the both of you. Consider your rounds for the night completed. I trust that neither of you will be tricked into any broomclosets on your way up?"

"No, Professor." Her eyes met with James' briefly.

"Good. And both of you ought to be a little more cautious. I do not understand why after nearly six months of courting, the pair of you would be caught off guard now."

Lily jaw dropped nearly instantly and James let out a whoop of laughter. "Good _night,_ Professor," he said amiably grinning from ear to ear as he looped his arm in Lily's and drew them up the steps. She couldn't form any coherent words as her boyfriend led them farther away from McGonagall's amused countenance. "_This_ is why she's my favourite," he said, allowing the stairs to take them higher.

"Did," she choked out, "that really happened?"

"_Absolutely_!" He looked over the moon, and by the time they were at their portrait, he had lost none of his excitement.

"Passwo-"

"_Monocerotis cauda_," he said jovially, ignoring her huff and pulling Lily through the portrait and into the main room. "This saves us so much time!"

"Time?" He kissed her, to cut her off she wasn't sure. She moved away. "What are you doing? People-"

"People will know that we're dating now, Lils. Sirius and Alice will have spread it around Hogwarts before we go down for breakfast."

"There goes the secret, then." She folded her arms and slumped into the couch with a sigh. "It was nice while it lasted."

"But it wasn't really a secret was it?" He sat himself next to her, the smile seeming to never leave his lips. "McGonagall knew the whole time."

"Did you tell her?"

He raised an eyebrow and smartly adjusted his spectacles. "A Marauder _knows_ how to keep a secret. So no, I didn't. She just knew. She even knew almost exactly how long we've been dating. It's impressive."

"And a little scary."

"Nah, just impressive. At least now I don't have to worry about kissing you in public."

"That will be nice." She melted into his side and he held her close, kissing the top of her head. "That also means you have to stop fake flirting with Roya."

"That cute Ravenclaw? But it was the perfect cover," then, at her annoyed gaze, "that is no longer perfect because I don't need a cover."

"Good." She allowed herself a smile and relaxed against his side until her drifted off, blissfully unaware of the commotion she would face the next morning.

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**How was it? I'm not sure if I got better or if I've lost my grasp on these characters from writing for other ships. C'est la vie.**

**If you have the time, please tell me what you thought!**


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